236. AC/DC / Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap [Australian Version]. 1976. 3.5/5.

As they did a couple of times early in their career, AC/DC release both a domestic Australian version and an overseas version of the same album. There are a couple of song differences, and the track line-up is different, so there is a need to review them separately. This Australian release contains two songs that the International release does not, in "R.I.P. (Rock In Peace)" and "Jailbreak" as the substituted songs. These songs are very important in the context of the album.

Following up on the huge success of T.N.T., this album again contains some of the band's best known, most loved and most played songs. Everyone in the world knows the song (and most likely the film clip) for "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap". It's a terrific song with a great riff, memorable lyrics and the perfect sing-along song. "Ain't No Fun (Waiting 'Round to Be a Millionaire)" is a slow burn, and probably takes to long to get wound up and going, sitting on the same riff and pace for the first half of the song. "There's Gonna Be Some Rockin'" harks back to the start of rock n' roll, a blues based rock song that incorporates a lot of repeated vocals with a blues solo from Angus along the way. It's a bit too repetitive and anodised for my liking. The energy returns with "Problem Child", a song much more like the AC/DC we know and a more suitable solo break from Angus. "Squealer" and "Big Balls" for me are very average songs. I like both to a certain degree, but there just isn't enough in either song to make me say "Yes! Let's play these songs on my random tracks tonight!" "R.I.P. (Rock In Peace)" is the second full-on blues number on the album, and for me fulfils the same thoughts. The blues are fine for blues bands, and I understand that the influences that these guys would have had would have been some of the blues legends, but apart from certain selections the blues bores me to tears. "Ride On" is a great song, a standout on the album more for the reason of its mellow tendencies, a quiet, reflectful tune that does seem to be out of place, and yet fits in perfectly within the album framework. It's not a song you would choose to  play if you are in an AC/DC rocking mood, but its place in the folklore is set.
After a long tough road, we finally get to the closing number, which is another of those classic, legendary songs, "Jailbreak". Again, everyone knows the song, and everyone knows the film clip. It is a great hard rock song, that closes the album on a positive note. When I first bought this album on cassette, I could play the first track, "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", and when it had finished flip it over, and it coincided almost perfectly with the start of "Jailbreak", which I would then play. And then the cycle would repeat. To be honest, I think this sort of sums up my thoughts on this album perfectly.

In comparing this album with T.N.T., there really is no comparison. taken away the first and last tracks and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap would be classed as a very average album by anyone except hardcore, die hard fans of the band. I can add probably three other songs here that I would be able to put high up in the AC/DC catalogue, but the rest would remain in the middle selection.

Rating:  All in the name of liberty  3.5/5

235. AC/DC / Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap [International Version]. 1976. 3.5/5

As they did a couple of times early in their career, AC/DC release both a domestic Australian version and an overseas version of the same album. There are a couple of song differences, and the track line-up is different, so there is a need to review them separately. This International release contains two songs that the Australian release does not, in "Love at First Feel" and "Rocker" as the substituted songs. "Rocker" appeared on T.N.T. which was not released internationally, while "Love at First Feel" is exclusive to the International version (although it was released as a single only in Australia).

Following up on the huge success of High Voltage, this album contains a couple of the band's best known, most loved and most played songs. Everyone in the world knows the song (and most likely the film clip) for "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap". It's a terrific song with a great riff, memorable lyrics and the perfect sing-along song. "Love at First Feel" is a great follow up, with a terrific groove and led by Bon's smooth vocals and Angus' guitar riff. "Big Balls" for me is a rather average song. It is likeable to a certain degree, but in the long run there isn't enough to really entrance me. "Rocker" is much like its title, a real back-to-roots rock 'n roll song, such that it could have been a 1950's cover version. The energy continues with "Problem Child", a song much more like the AC/DC we know and a more suitable solo break from Angus. This is followed by "There's Gonna Be Some Rockin'", which harks back to the start of rock n' roll, a blues based rock song that incorporates a lot of repeated vocals with a blues solo from Angus along the way. It's a bit too repetitive and anodised for my liking. "Ain't No Fun (Waiting 'Round to Be a Millionaire)" is a slow burn, and probably takes too long to get wound up and going, sitting on the same riff and pace for the first half of the song. "Ride On" is a great song, a standout on the album more for the reason of its mellow tendencies, a quiet, reflectful tune that does seem to be out of place, and yet fits in perfectly within the album framework. It's not a song you would choose to  play if you are in an AC/DC rocking mood, but its place in the folklore is set. The album ends with "Squealer", which for me is a lot like "Big Balls" earlier in the album.

There are some good songs here, those being "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap", "Love at First Feel" and "Problem Child", but there are some others that don't really do the job for me musically. No doubt the hard core fans will see it differently, but apart from the fact that you can still enjoy material that isn't quite at the top of the tree, this has a few misses.

Rating: She keeps nagging at your night and day, enough to drive you nuts.  3.5/5

234. Alice In Chains / Dirt. 1992. 5/5.

Grunge. The death of thrash and glam metal? Or the great reformer of music to transform between the 1980’s at the 1990’s? Who the hell knows. One thing that is certain is that many bands that are labelled as being a part of the grunge movement are only there because of their geography rather than the music they produce. Alice in Chains was definitely one of those bands when they emerged on the scene from 1989 through to the new decade. Emerging from Seattle as what brought the grunge label, but the music rarely sits in that category. And indeed, their path following the release of their debut album “Facelift” was much more down the heavy metal path. Indeed the band went out as the opening act of the “Clash of the Titans” tour with Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer, and landed a whole new audience as a result. Their demeanour smacked of metal, but it was a different mix of that sound, and as a result Alice in Chains became one of the leaders of the next form of genre, alternative metal.
After solid touring behind that debut, the band returned to the studio, but before diving into a new full album, they recorded and released the acoustic EP “Sap” (legend states drummer Sean Kinney had a dream that they recorded an EP called ‘Sap’, and so the band decided not to push fate). From here came the writing and recording of their full length follow up, titled “Dirt”. They already written the song “Would?”, which had appeared on the soundtrack for the film “Singles” which has been released in early 1992. There were several impediments to this process along the way. Their first day of recording for the album was also the day that the LA riots started over the acquittal of the four policemen involved in the bashing of Rodney King. As a result, the band along with Slayer vocalist Tom Araya, heading into the desert for six days until the riots had been calmed down. It was also during these recordings that lead vocalist Layne Staley checked out of rehab, and then quickly back in when he picked up his heroin habit once again. Also at this time both Sean Kinney and bass guitarist Mike Starr were dealing with alcohol problems, so it was a tough session to get through, and it is no surprise that many of the songs on the album can be linked to these issues that members of the band were dealing with.

The opening track “Them Bones” is a positive start, a song that lyrically discusses the fact that we will all die one day and that everyone should just enjoy their time while they have it. “Dam That River” just has a brilliant groove about it, the riff from both guitars and bass held together by the simple but perfect drum beat. No halting through the song, everything flows along beautifully, just like pouring honey from a jar. The dual vocals through the verse and Layne spitting out the chorus. There aren’t a lot of Alice in Chains songs that move like this one does, and perhaps its uniqueness is what is so enjoyable about it.
When it comes to emotional ties in the lyrics, the next two songs perfectly exemplify that. “Rain When I Die” is an angsty song about a girl, to a girl, the way love struck teenage boys feel when it came to trying to express their feelings... or was that just me? Oay, maybe let’s just move on from that then...
“Down in a Hole” is one of my favourite tracks by the band, and it is mostly from the vocals, the emotional impact between Layne and Jerry throughout the song but especially in the chorus, with the music suitably sombre and toned down to meet the needs of the song. It’s what this band does so well, the intensity of the song isn’t relying on fast pace or heavy guitars, and it doesn’t lose the presence of the band in the process.
The heroin trilogy comes through the middle of the album, first with “Sickman”, and followed by “Junkhead” and “Godsmack”. All three have lyrics focused on that drug use, which have met with some critical reaction against them. It is interesting to read interviews with both Layne and Jerry following the release of this album on those songs. Layne was as saying “I didn't want my fans to think that heroin was cool. But then I've had fans come up to me and give me the thumbs up, telling me they're high. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen." Jerry backed this up, saying "That darkness was always part of the band, but it wasn’t all about that. There was always an optimism, even in the darkest shit we wrote. With Dirt, it’s not like we were saying ‘Oh yeah, this is a good thing.’ It was more of a warning than anything else”.
Breaking up these three songs is the magnificent “Rooster”, which Jerry wrote about his father, and the title track “Dirt” where Layne more or less gives it to an unnamed associate who ticked him off enough to get this rise out of him. Both of these songs are important in not only competing and living up to the tracks around them, but also in helping to restore a less ‘drugs are good’ anthem that many fans mistook them for. They also help to retain the power of those tracks as well. The 30 second “Iron Gland” features Tom Araya coming in on guest vocal and nailing the audition.
Two solo Staley writing tracks follow, and both possess the exact kind of frustration and anger that you sometimes feel Layne must have possessed at time. “Hate to Feel” is another angst driven song lyrically and moodily in the music, while “Angry Chair” is just as you would imagine it, with a gutteral guitar riff, and those spitting lyrics that are then beautifully enhanced in the bridge and chorus by both Layne and Jerry to top off another uniquely Alice in Chains song.
The album then concludes with the previously mentioned “Would?”, a song that is dominated by the bass riff and drum fill throughout that gives it its own perfect style, and one that tops off an amazing music experience.

“Facelift” had been a bit of a bolt from the blue when it came to my music listening habits. In and around that time, the albums that had changed the way I thought about what I was listening to were Faith No More’s “The Real Thing”, Scatterbrain’s “Here Comes Trouble” and Alice in Chains’s “Facelift”, all before the explosion that came with Nirvana’s “Nevermind”. Those three albums showed that heavy music could be combined with a different style to create an album that was unique to the time.
“Dirt” came out a year after the “Nevermind” phenomenon that had gripped so many people I knew who kept telling me how great that album was (even though they were not really interested in any music I enjoyed), but it was the excitement of another Alice in Chains album that was the driving force for me. The anticipation of how this band would develop on their follow up to an album that was so starkly individualistic in its own right. Having heard how Faith No More had upped their game between “The Real Thing” and recent release “Angel Dust”, what would Alice in Chains offer?
The answer is they would give you an album that is almost without rival when it comes to the day and age. There is a rawness to the other albums I have mentioned here. There is none of that on “Dirt”. It is a flawless production where the songs are played immaculately, the instrumentation precision perfect. The drums and bass stuck solidly together to hold together the basis of each track, the guitars harmonise together in synch. The duelling vocals of Layne and Jerry pieced together perfectly, and melding into sweetness in their gentle moments, and then powerfully in their anger moments. There are moments where some critics feel the band has moved to becoming more commercial, but to me it is just a maturing of the band, able to write and perform songs that speak to generations.
I played this – a LOT – when I first got the album. I remember expecting something similar to that first album, the hardcore, loud, driven band. What I got was different, and I remember on those first listens I was... surprised... and amazed. Initially it was songs like “Down in a Hole”, and “Rooster” and “Angry Chair” that I just thought... wow, this is not what I expected... but it is amazing. And the more I listened to the album, the more I was amazed at what the band had produced.
30 years on, and Layne is gone and Mike is gone. But this album lives on, and is still as amazingly potent and relevant as it was on its release. No doubt many people will be out there getting their hands on the 30th anniversary releases that are flooding the market. If you don’t already own the album, then now would be the perfect time to get out there and buy it. It is still the high water mark of the era when it comes to the Seattle scene.

233. Rainbow / Difficult To Cure. 1981. 3.5/5

Many fans thought that once Ronnie James Dio had parted ways with Rainbow in 1978, after three groundbreaking albums that had lifted his profile to greater heights, and revived the profile of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, that the band Rainbow would be in peril, that it would be unable to retain the interest and popularity it had garnered over the previous four years. Then had come along not only Ritchie’s former Deep Purple bandmate in bass guitarist Roger Glover, but new vocalist Graham Bonnet, and these two both contributed heavily to the success of the band’s fourth album “Down to Earth”, with Bonnet’s great vocals in particular driving the new songs. But it was the success of the single “Since You Been Gone” which was composed by Russ Ballard, that began the major fork in the road that took the band on a new direction. Blackmore had been looking for a way to move into the commercial success in the United States, and that single brought with it the positives and negatives that would come with it.
As always seemed to be the case in bands where Ritchie Blackmore was a member, tensions between band members seemed to increase during this period. It began once the tour to promote “Down to Earth” had concluded, with drummer Cozy Powell quitting over concerns about the direction the music was heading in. Work had begun on tracks for the follow up album, with Bonnet having done preliminary vocals having begun on songs such as “I Surrender”, before Bonnet decided to leave the band over a combination of the direction the new album was heading as well the constant arguing and disagreements with Blackmore. In their places, Blackmore brought in two Americans, perhaps subconsciously believing this may help him with his ultimate goal. Drummer Bobby Rondinelli came in to replace Powell, while Joe Lynn Turner was appointed as the band’s new lead singer. By the time Turner came into the project, the majority of the music and backing vocals had already been recorded with Bonnet’s vocals in mind in regard to the pitch, which resulted in Turner having to sing in a higher key than his normal register for the album. Welcome to the party, Joe!
It was to be a big moment for the band. They had headlined the inaugural Monsters of Rock at Castle Donington in May 1980 on the back of the success of those first four albums. Now, with a turn in the style of material that the key songwriters in Blackmore and Glover were producing, with the main goal of commercial success in the US as the key, could this new album with its new singer help that to come to pass, as well as retaining the fan base that came to the band for its more medieval hard rock style of the past? All of these questions would find answers with the release of their fifth album, titled “Difficult to Cure”.

Although I am sure it was obvious to me at the time that I first discovered this album, it is not something that sticks in my memory – but there is a fairly obvious divide in the style and quality of songs on this album, and they can be put into two categories. There are the songs that are the best known on the album, the ones that got traction with the fan base and even those who are just on the periphery of the fandom, and then there are the album tracks that anyone who isn’t a big fan of the band would barely know even existed.
The songs that I will dub the ‘unknown’ tracks number five of the nine album songs. Now I should say from the outset that this categorisation does not necessarily suggest these are only average songs. I do like all of them, but it is true they aren’t game changers. “No Release” is the third track from side A of the album, built on the early blues play from Ritchie’s guitar, which then brings in the moody addition of the keys and bass guitar underneath, and the comforting honey glaze of Turner’s vocals. It’s a early template for the style that this era of the band would look to drive. It retains its drive through the constant thump of Rondinelli’s drums and Turner’s own vocals backing up his lead through the middle. A lesser ability-ied singer would lose this song, but Joe manages to keep hold of the reigns and bring it to its conclusion. This is followed by “Magic”, the second cover song of the album composed by Brian Moran. This has a very FM radio structure about it, with verse-chorus-verse-chorus-Ritchie solo-verse-chorus, along with Joe wailing in that slightly annoying tone through the middle. It is noticeably not a Rainbow song anything like what they have produced in the past. The synth and keys might be in the background but they are the commercialised ones that look to draw in a certain audience. It is almost disco in places which is a surprising turn of events. Side A closes out with "Vielleicht Das Nächste Zeit (Maybe Next Time)", an instrumental piece composed by Blackmore and keyboardist Don Airey. And yes, it sounds great, and the band plays very nicely throughout. But what is the motivation, what is the drive here? When I listen to the album I enjoy this for what it is, but it isn’t an inspiring piece or a Malmsteen piece, though you can hear what inspired his music in the guitaring on this track. Again, its fine, but nothing more than that.
The second track on Side B is “Freedom Fighter”, the best song of this collection of songs. Turner’s vocals are forthright and excellent, doubled over as necessary and he pretty much makes this track. Musically it is quite simple for a Blackmore composed effort, there isn’t a lot that jumps out of your speakers at you about it, even his solo slot is nothing noteworthy for Blackmore. This is followed by “Midtown Tunnel Vision” moves along similar lines. Both of these songs had the trio of Blackmore, Glover and Turner as composers, and it shows. This is a slower tempo with a more direct blues sound to it, stretching time itself as it struggles to get out of first gear. All of these five songs have some reasonable qualities, but for different reasons cannot rise above the average in output. As I have said on other episodes, the songs that aren’t the heavy hitters still have to carry their weight for it to be a great album, an album that sets itself apart from everything else. These songs just aren’t doing that. They’re okay, they fine. But nothing else.
The four songs that ARE the main course may also have their naysayers, and to be fair they do leave themselves open to that interpretation. While they do light up this album when they come in, if you are to compare them individually to many of the tracks that appeared on the opening four albums they would most likely have their pants pulled down.
The album opens with “I Surrender”, yet another Russ Ballard composed song that he has lent out to other bands to create a money making machine for him. Seriously, look up how many bands he has songs covered by, and imagine the writing royalties he must rake in. This was the first of three covers on the album (including the final track from classical composer Beethoven) which does create a feeling of perhaps Blackmore had run out of ideas. However, after the success of Ballard’s “Since You Been Gone” from the previous album, I guess you can always assume it will work again. And for the most part, in this case, that is true. It is a high energy track and puts you in a great mood from the start. This is followed by easily the best song on the album, the rollicking “Spotlight Kid”, that could easily have opened the album, and did open gigs on the tour that followed. Telling the story of young musician and the pits and perils of being in a band, and the desire and pitfalls of being in the spotlight, it works terrifically well. Turner makes the role his own, while it is Glover’s terrific bassline through the song that makes the track so terrific, bringing back memories of its role in the best Deep Purple songs. These two opening songs set the album off on the right foot.
The opening track on side B is “Can’t Happen Here”, one that has a feeling of having had input from previous lead singer Graham Bonnet. It acts as a sister track to “I Surrender”, both songs opening their side of the album with a mood and attitude that emit the best energy of the album. And the final track is the title track, “Difficult to Cure”, and is a rearrangement and reimagining of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, another trick that Yngwie Malmsteen picked up off his hero. This is very well done, a great arrangement from Blackmore, Glover and Airey, creating a hard rock version of this famous musical interlude, and it does create an entertaining finish to the album. It predates the movie “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”, where the same idea is introduced for the Beethoven character brought to modern day San Dimas, and then creates a similar composition in the music store in the mall. If nothing else, this end to the album showcases the talent that the band has in creating such a piece.

As I am sure to have mentioned in other places of this podcast, my first exposure to Rainbow was indeed this era of the band, with Joe Lynn Turner as the lead vocalist. It came from two school friends in the final year of high school, both with the first name Peter, the first of whom was a fanatical Ritchie Blackmore fan, and the second who became a fan through him. The first Pete had also brought me Deep Purple, and it was the second Peter who bought this album on vinyl, and whom I borrowed it from to record to my own C90 cassette, along with “Straight Between the Eyes”, the next album, on the other side.
Before I had this album, I had already gotten the live album "Finyl Vinyl” so I was aware of Joe Lynn Turner as well as a couple of these songs that had been performed on that album. And looking back that probably helped me to enjoy this album from the outset, because I had heard these tracks in their best live environment. And without a doubt it also helped that I wasn’t as aware of the Ronnie Jame Dio era of the band when I first heard the Joe Lynn Turner era – and not from the point of the view of the vocals, because they are both outstanding vocalists, but in terms of the style of the songs presented. They are truly chalk and cheese. So I had no preconceptions of the music except that I knew a few of these songs, I knew a few of the Dio-era songs, and I could just judge it on the album itself without comparisons coming in to cloud any judgement.
And I loved this album when I first heard it. It was at a time when I hadn’t heard a lot of thrash metal and glam metal that I began to listen to a lot of in the latter part of the decade, and that I was still discovering a lot of the bands that would become so much a part of my life going forwards. Rainbow was one of those, and the best of the songs here grabbed me and dragged me in. And I played this album often, with the switch over to the other side of the cassette to hear the next album equally enjoyable.
Flash forward all these years to the present day, and my CD copy has been played often over the past week as I have indulged in a little nostalgia. Putting the album on again after quite some time has been enlightening and fun. I have done a lot of singing both at home and at work listening to this album again, amusing both family and work colleagues. But it’s hard not to get involved with these tracks that I love; “Spotlight Kid”, “I Surrender”, “Can’t Happen Here”. Yes, I’ll admit that these days they are a bit cheesy, a bit classical soft rock. But I grew up with them and this album, and so I can still forgive them for being a bit that. And the rest of the album – you know, if I heard the songs individually on a playlist somewhere, there is a chance that I might skip them. But listening to them here as a part of this album... well, they are a PART of the album, the album as a whole, and as a whole I still love it, even if some of the parts individually might be a little lame. That’s the great thing about albums; they are their own entity. And they can be great even if some of the songs may have lost a little of their sheen over the years. For me, that best describes my feelings about “Difficult to Cure” in 2026 – an album I loved, and an album I still love, as much for the nostalgia it provides as the music. And isn’t that what you want from your music? I know I do.

232. Metallica / Die, Die My Darling [Single]. 1998. 5/5.

This was one of the singles released off the double disc Garage Inc. compilation, which comprised completely of cover songs from over the years. The single, Die Die My Darling is a cover of a Misfits song.

The other two songs were recorded live on their short tour to play the best of these tracks live. The first is Sabbra Cadabra by Black Sabbath, which incorporates A National Acrobat as well. The second is a medley entitled Mercyful Fate, which contains the Mercyful fate songs Satan's Fall, Curse Of The Pharaohs, A Corpse Without Soul, Into The Coven and Evil.

These were my favourite three songs off the 'new' section of Garage Inc., and they are all brilliant. Mercyful Fate live is sensational.

Rating : This is as good as a single release can get. Absolutely sensational. 5/5.

231. Ozzy Osbourne / Diary Of A Madman. 1981. 5/5.

Ozzy Osbourne’s story through the 1970’s with Black Sabbath is one of outrageous success, incomprehensible drug and alcohol consumption, and a messy break up that left him on his own and bereft of opportunity. The story of his redemption, of coming together with another successful band that recorded and released an album - Blizzard of Ozz - that helped put his name back in lights in the music business, is also worthy of his tale. What is more interesting is what has come to light in recent years about how and who recorded those first two albums, and the cut-throat way that several people involved were treated. It’s not a particularly happy tale. For anyone who is truly interested in what happened with the band, which initially was meant to be called The Blizzard of Ozz rather than have the album of the same name credited solely to Ozzy Osbourne as a solo release, and how things began to fall apart due to the single minded attitude of Sharon Arden, soon to be Sharon Osbourne, then you should most definitely read Bob Daisley’s wonderful autobiography “For Facts Sake...” which gives an in depth and detailed version of the events surrounding this time.

Beyond this though, the same line up that recorded the first album, Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake, again wrote and recorded all the material for the sophomore release, Diary of a Madman. Given the success of that album and the breakthrough performance of previously unknown guitar prodigy Randy Rhoads on it, the chance to follow that up with even more diversified songs and put their stamp on the metal music world as it was at the time would have been uppermost in their minds. Ozzy’s former band Black Sabbath had had a major hit with their Heaven and Hell release at the same time that Blizzard of Ozz came out, and their follow up to that, Mob Rules, was released just three days prior to the release of Diary of a Madman. No matter what was being said around both bands, you can be sure all of the members would have been intensely interested in the success of the other.
Much like the preceding album, this album has a mixture of the true heavy metal songs as well as those that tend toward the side of the rock ballad style. The difference between these songs and normal rock ballads are the musicians involved, because with Randy being trained in classical guitar, as well of the beautiful off beat bass lines of Bob and then Ozzy’s terrific vocals, these songs are not mere rock ballad type songs.
Diary of a Madman kicks off with the brilliant “Over the Mountain”, with Lee Kerslake’s wonderful rolling drum intro bursting into Randy’s guitar riff to get the album off to a great start. This is such a terrific opening track, filled with everything that made this version of the band so good, that it is hard to believe that it has been played live so little. It remains one of my favourite Ozzy songs. “Flying High Again” and “Believer” were both played on the tour that followed this album, before the album had even been released in many areas. The live album Tribute has them as part of its track list, and both are highlighted by Randy’s guitar riffs and soloing. “Flying High Again” feels as though it could have been aimed at the commercial market but without losing its distinct metal features, though sales did not back up that assertion. “Believer” has a much heavier sound and finishes off the first side of the album in style. Between these two songs came “You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll”, one of the rock songs that moves into that softer territory, until you reach the solo of course, where Randy really turns the dial up. The melodic guitar throughout sets the mood of the song perfectly, and it sits in a great place. When I first got this album I used to play this song over and over and just bathe in its excellence, because it is an anthem without the fist pumping, it just says its piece matter of factly, and neither the message of the music take anything away from the other. It is still a wonderful song.

The second side of the album is a different mix altogether, with “Little Dolls” and “Tonight” both the kind of songs that you would never ever consider when you think of the Ozzy Osbourne catalogue. They aren’t obscure as such, but they are ones that pale against the great songs that surround them and so aren’t always front and centre in your mind. Both are great in their own way, “Little Dolls” through the hard driving rhythm of the bass and drums in particular, and “Tonight” as the ballad where Bob’s bass in prominent in being the centre of the song before Randy’s solo in particular steals the show. Ozzy’s vocals here too, as with most of his songs of this style, are at their peak, and are a major reason why Ozzy makes these kind of songs so enjoyable.
Perhaps the best song on the album is “S.A.T.O”, a bombastic hard core fast paced song driven by all three instruments rifling along with great power. I love everything about this song – Lee's drumming is perfect for the feel, Bob’s bass rumbling along the bottom end but still jumping up the strings and the fretboard to have its own unique part of the song, Randy chugging along on guitar before unleashing yet another brilliant solo that steals the show, while Ozzy’s vocals are top shelf. Another of my favourite all time Ozzy songs. And the album ends with the title track which mixes heavy metal with acoustic and the gothic to create an amazing epic song that completes the album in perfection.

I have always had some trouble determining which album of Ozzy’s I have loved best – Blizzard of Ozz or Diary of a Madman, not because they are similar but because each has their positive strengths and their very very slight weaknesses. Back in that magical year of 1986 when I was beginning to discover the dark arts of 1970 and 1980’s heavy metal, I had both albums in a gatefold double album, and I never listened to one without then listening to the other. They are both such extraordinary albums, and I can still see myself sitting in my parents' lounge room in front of the stereo listening to them.
Because that first album introduced me to this foursome, I always think that Diary of a Madman is a triumph because they came back not long after this album’s recording and release, having done the first part of what became a two-part tour, and then wrote and recorded this album. And everything about it seems better. Lee’s drumming is better, more rounded, more settled in the music written, given on this album he was a much bigger part of it rather than coming in late to just perform it as he was on Blizzard of Ozz. Bob’s bass guitar just perforates through each song once again, and it is the little things he throws in that can sometimes make the song, rather than just sitting in the same easy bass riff that WOULD have suited the song, but because he adds bits it makes them even better. And Randy’s playing has grown again, and it isn’t only the solos in the songs that create his standout performance, but the slower and more technical riffs and runs that come across, certainly in the slower songs, where you hear just the kind of guitar player he was becoming. And of course there is Ozzy, who despite the alcohol and drugs and the other distractions that were going on in his life, still managed to sing these songs in a most amazing way, clear, distinct, at a level that is at times astounding.

I listen to this album, and still wonder just what this foursome could have achieved beyond this is if they had been allowed to grow at their own speed and look to take on the world. Because when I listen to it I can still try to imagine what album would have come next, what songs they would have produced, and where that might have taken them. Of course, this was not to be. Bob and Lee were fired from the band after the recording of the album while on holidays, and were replaced on the tour that followed by Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge. It seemed they had asked for too much in the eyes of one Sharon Arden and were moved along pretty quickly. And of course even more tragically was the death of Randy in a light plane crash on that tour. The band that had created these classics was no more. Bob was to come back several times over the years and either write or record or both with Ozzy, but that was never the same. And the albums that came after this were fantastic with their own stories to tell. But there is always a lingering moment where what could have come from a third album by Rhoads, Daisley, Kerslake and Osbourne still fascinates me.

230. Slayer / Diabolus In Musica. 1998. 3.5/5.

Slayer’s ride through the first half of the 90’s decade had seen them able to stem the tide that worked against so many metal bands in that decade. As the rise and fall of grunge was replaced by a scene cruising into alternative metal, industrial metal and nu-metal, many of their contemporaries had already made adjustments to the music they were producing, and for the most part were finding the going more difficult. Slayer had been on the crest of a wave with their “Seasons in the Abyss” album, and despite the loss of long time drummer Dave Lombardo, had found an able replacement in Paul Bostaph, and then released “Divine Intervention” in 1994 which continued their impressive aggressive releases. They then brought out their “Undisputed Attitude” album where the band covered punk and hardcore songs from their favourite bands of that genre, an album that received mixed thoughts from the fans.
What the fans were looking for was a new album with new material. It had been four years between Seasons and Intervention, and so it was to be a further four years between Intervention and their 8th studio album, “Diabolus in musica”, a name that translates as ‘The Devil in Music’ in Latin. Most of the album is played tuned down to C#, an interesting shift that was to be a talking point going forward.
There have been plenty of people, both so-called experts and fans alike, who have noted the trajectory that this album takes seems to have a lot of influence from a band like Pantera, who had taken the 90’s decade by storm after completely revamping their own sound. Now Dimebag Darrell had plenty of fanboys in the music world who it felt then dictated their own music direction to implement that style, and Slayer certainly appear to have been one of them. The fairly obvious slip into a genre that imitates nu-metal if it doesn’t fully go down that path seems to be a driving factor here, and over the years it has brought that feeling with it.

When it comes to discussing the best moments on Diabolus in Musica, they will inevitably be those that remind you the most of days gone by. The opening track “Bitter Peace” has a fantastic build-up and payoff that most Slayer fans would appreciate. “Scrum” contains some terrific time changes and a couple of formidable riffs that show that even eight albums in Hanneman and King can still mix it with the best. “Screaming From the Sky” also harks back to an earlier time, of the mid-tempo thrash of the late 1980’s era of the band and the way it could bring out that awesomeness of the band. So too “Perversions of Pain”, where the mid-tempo is only interrupted by the terrific solo riffs. Great stuff.
Perhaps the only song here that works well that doesn’t call on past glories is “Stain of Mind”, which manages to sound completely modern, with a chunky groove and that nu-metal rhythm and vocals, while still satisfying from an extremity point of view. You can hear even now how it was the best loved track on its release.
The remaining tracks have a consistent blandness to them, with the band seemingly caught in a zone where riffs become almost irrelevant to the song and Araya’s at-times monotonous shouting becomes the focus. “Love to Hate” is the worst offender, but “Overt Enemy” is close behind, both of which become tedious long before anything of note occurs. King and Hanneman’s lead breaks are almost always worth waiting for, with blood-pumping impact through the structure of the song, but in the framework of these fairly dull and unremarkable efforts, they simply fail to serve any purpose at all.
For me, one of the most interesting parts about this album is that all of the music bar one song, Kerry’s “In the Name of God” is composed by Jeff Hanneman, and the reason this surprises me is because as a Slayer fan I’ve always generally loved Hanneman’s compositions over the other band members efforts. So the fact that this musical direction has pretty much been set by the guy I think writes the best Slayer songs is something that has always been difficult to overcome.

1998 was, for me, a massively desolate year when it came to new music from bands I loved. There was a reason I was beginning to drift towards the European metal scene, as they seemed to be moving in a positive direction, whereas the bands I had always loved were changing the way they had gone about things to try and remain relevant. And it is a very easy thing to say that from my point of view they should have continued to write the same music that they always had and they would have survived and succeeded, because I most probably could have been wrong.
I bought this in my local record store where I was living at the time in Newtown, and rushed home to put it on and listen to new Slayer music. And it would be fair to say that the reception it received at that time was very very cold. I wasn’t sure if I was missing something, whether I was the one who was expecting too much from this album. The general consensus amongst my friends who listened to Slayer at that time was that it was fine but wasn’t outstanding. On it’s release in fact, in metal magazines, the album initially was immensely popular within the fans base, some ranking it as high as the 2nd all time Slayer release. I was never sold on it as that. I enjoyed the album – certainly when it was released it got a hammering having waited so long for a follow-up to “Divine Intervention” – but there was something that I find is not as enjoyable as so many of their other albums. In the long run, this was a hybrid, modernised Slayer album, one where things had been tweaked and changed, and for me it didn’t quite click.
On listening to the album a lot again over the past few weeks, I guess I still have those same conclusions. It isn’t a bad album but it is definitely of a differing style. My most endearing comparison is that I have been listening to this album paired with another album that I am listening to for my next podcast episode, Nuclear Assault’s 1988 release “Survive”. The true thrash metal style of that album so completely dominates over the style of this album, that for me it perfectly reflects what is missing from “Diabolus in musica” - true thrash metal guitars and speed and joy. It’s sometimes amazing the difference ten years can make.

229. Primal Fear / Devil's Ground. 2003. 4.5/5.

The next in the Primal Fear collection, and this takes an even greater leap into the upper echelons of modern metal greatness.
The stage is set as Ralf Scheepers screams out “METAL IS FOREVER!!” as the first thing you hear on the album, and from there it only gets better.

Though everything this band has done has been metal, this is another leap forward. This is really fast, and really heavy, in a heavy metal way. On this album, Primal Fear have taken all of the best aspects from power metal, heavy metal, thrash metal and speed metal, and fused them into an absolutely brilliant and exciting album.

So why is it that this band has almost no exposure outside of Europe? I still find it amazing. If this had been marketed and promoted in the right way, every fan of heavy metal in the world would have become a fan of this album and band, I am sure of it. The musicianship is just fantastic, and Ralf's vocals have lost nothing over the years. They are a terrific package.

Choosing my favourites here is like listing the entire contents of the album. If forced to do so, I would choose Metal Is Forever, Suicide And Mania, Visions Of Fate, The Healer, Soulchaser and Heart Of A Brave.

Rating : One of the very good surprises I received in 2003. Magnificent. 4.5/5

228. Ratt / Detonator. 1990. 3.5/5

Leading up to the new decade, the band Ratt had always pushed their barrow in their own direction. From the outset they had conjured up their own sound, their own version of the hard rock and metal that they had grown up around and performed within. Alongside the outstanding characteristics of Warren De Martini’s lead guitar and Stephen Pearcy’s unique vocals, the band had found its place in the industry, and then gone about rusting themselves on and putting out consistently excellent solid albums. They had their formula that they knew was a hit with their fans and was catchy enough to attract new fans, and this is what they stuck to.
Their fourth album, “Reach for the Sky”, had seen the band continuing to stick to their guns in this regard, and though they had a charting single in “Way Cool Jr”, the sales for the album were not as strong as they had been for their first three releases. Some music critics felt that the similarity in the songs had finally caught up with the band, that there was not enough growing in the music itself, and that this was what had affected the album’s performance. True or not, Ratt decided on a change of tactics.
For their follow up album, the band parted ways with long time producer Beau Hill, instead deciding to team up with the man who had become known as the ‘hit-maker’ in the music industry. That man was Desmond Child, whose partnership with bands like Kiss, Bon Jovi and Alice Cooper had produced multi million selling albums such as “Slippery When Wet” and “Trash”. Child came in with his personal sound engineer Arthur Payson who both produced the album, with Child having his fingers all over the writing of the majority of the songs on the album as well. "Reach for the Sky” had been the first time the band had utilised an outside writer on their tracks, which had been producer Beau Hill, but here they had a Bonafide five star collaborator with an amazing track record of producing hit singles. And coming off the success of Alice Cooper’s “Trash” album, where he had performed the same role, Ratt had to be confident that they could produce something that would win back the admiration of their fan base. All of this moved into the release of the band’s fifth album, released in one of the most interesting years in metal music history in 1990, and given the suitably inflammable title of “Detonator”.

The album opens with Warren De Martini’s one minute guitar noodling titled “Intro to Shame” before bursting into the true opening of “Shame Shame Shame”, replete with Bobby Blotzer’s excellent drumming and Stephen Pearcy’s de rigueur vocals. The guitaring throughout the song is terrific and it has Desmond Child’s vision all over it. It starts off the album on the right foot. De Martini’s solo burst on the guitar greets the beginning of “Lovin’ You’s a Dirty Job”, a more typical Ratt section, styled in a mid-tempo range that settles into it groove and allows Pearcy to take centre stage and explain to you his love quandary. Its main problem is that it sounds as though it was WRITTEN to be a single, which indeed it was, released as the first from the album. It’s a bit stereotypical. “Scratch That Itch” has a far more pleasing upbeat tempo, Blotzer’s drums driving the song in his hard hitting way. There’s a bit of Def Leppard about Robbin’s rhythm guitar in this song too, whether it is deliberate or not. De martini solos beautifully, all together making the marks of a great Ratt song.
“One Step Away” again channels those darlings of the hard rock scene, Def Leppard and AC/DC. A great rhythm throughout from Blotzer, Crosby and Juan Croucier’s bass guitar sets the tone, with harmony vocals through the bridge and chorus that give it that slightly softer feel, a more commercial feel perhaps. This would have been a far better fit for the band to release as a single than the two that they did. They may have missed a trick with that. Apart from the rather obvious comparison here it is another excellent song. Then comes “Hard Time” which focuses more like an historical Ratt track, with the harder guitar and the tougher vocal from Pearcy. These are the type of songs that work well for the band in this environment, no compromise with the music and Stephen being forthright in his delivery. Read the same description for “Head I Win, Tails You Lose” which follows, one that sounds like an old school De Martini/Pearcy collaboration. Croucier’s bass is prominent in the mix throughout for this song which gives it a slightly more booming quality.
“All or Nothing” bounces like a track off the first two albums, that head and body bobbing quality that gets you moving with the track. De Martini’s guitar solo is a highlight. This then explodes into “Can’t Wait on Love” that also channels those early Ratt albums, the energy from the outset is catchy as hell, Pearcy’s vocals sound like he means what he’s singing, getting his lungs behind them and hitting those great fun heights that he can, and which generally makes the best Ratt songs when he does. This is one of the best on the album. “Givin’ Yourself Away” is the one true power ballad on the album. There are some out there that claimed that Ratt has never done a power ballad before this album and this song. Well, you probably need to check your definition of a power ballad if that is the case. This one however is a Desmond Child special, you can hear his influence all over it. It is also co-written by Diane Warren, who wrote a number of hit singles for artists – all of which happened to be ballads or power ballads. So, the direction this song goes is no accident. Skip please.
The album then concludes with “Top Secret” which returns us to where the band is at its best and plays us out to a satisfying finish.

It wouldn’t be new information to say that I was less enamoured by the album “Reach for the Sky” when it came out. There was a big push of the single “Way Cool Jr” - a song that just never really resonated with me – and I always felt the album was weaker than I liked. In recent years I have come around to it more than I did, but those feelings still remain whenever I think of that album. On the other hand, perhaps I always held "Detonator” in higher regard simply because of the fact that Desmond Child was involved, and that I had enjoyed so much what he had done for Alice Cooper’s “Trash” album. I won’t deny that that wasn’t a factor, indeed a very big reason that I followed up and bought this album after my less than positive reaction to the previous album.
At the time when the album was released, I enjoyed it... but as we all know 1990 was a year of spectacular indulgence, a year when an incredible amount of amazing heavy albums were all released in a very short space of time. Within just five weeks of this album being released, for instance, we also saw the release of Alice in Chains’ “Facelift”, Anthrax’s “Persistence of Time”, Queensryche’s “Empire” and Judas Priest’s “Painkiller”. Ratt weren’t to know then, but how in the hell do you compete against a quartet like that?! I can tell you – it can’t. This album was really enjoyable for about two weeks after I got it, and then it just got swallowed up in the gigantic enormousness of those other albums, and amazingly some others that equally that within a couple of months. The back half of 1990 was somewhat ridiculous. And – for me at least – if this album had come out a couple of months earlier, it would have gotten a much fairer listening time than it did on its release.
It did however, find its way back into the listening cycle, like many bands did for me in the second half of the 1990’s where all the bands I followed were dead or changed, and I was ambivalent about much of the music being produced. It was when I went back to the albums of the 1980’s and of 1990, and Ratt came back into vogue. And this album for me stood out from the other four of their releases during that period – not because it was necessarily better, but it was different. It had its own sound, and though it was definitely Ratt it had a more modern feel than the other four albums.
Flash forward to this week, and I have had the album out again for about a week, though mostly at a lower level at work with a couple of other albums I have been reviewing at the same time. Because it was acting as background music for me, I wasn’t taking a lot in, it wasn’t making itself known to me. But over the past two days, when I have concentrated my senses on the album, listening not only at home but increasing the volume at work to allow it to envelop me, I have had a ball. I have truly enjoyed this album, listening to it again, and not exactly discovering it again but making my acquaintance with it again. Because it HAS been a while since I last indulged in “Detonator”, and it has definitely been too long. The album has a great up vibe feel about it, it is played at a great clip, and the tempo and energy are enjoyable throughout. In many ways, it set the band up for its push into the new decade and the way it felt at the time that the genres were beginning to head.
This of course was a false dawn, as the onset of grunge almost from the moment this album was released changed the course of almost every band in the business. For Ratt, their internal problems came to a head, with Robbin Crosby’s substance abuse seeing him ejected from the band while he checked into rehab, sadly his final moments with Ratt before his passing in 2002 from a heroin overdose. Stephen Pearcy soon left for another project, and Ratt as a band went on a hiatus that was to last for several years, and remove all of the headway they had created with this album. Their return would come, and there is more to be told of the tale, but that is all for another podcast episode down the road a ways.

227. KISS / Destroyer. 1976. 5/5.

Despite album sales that tended to tell a different story, Kiss appeared to be on an upward trend as they reached the year 1975. With three studio albums behind them, the growth in their fans base and at their live concerts was noticeably in the ascendancy. On the downside their albums had not been hits, and their record label Casablanca Records was on the verge of bankruptcy, something that could have had serious consequences for the band if they went under. In many ways, both the record label and the band needed to find a way to create an album that captured the imagination of their fans, new and old, in order to give the band a further boost to its popularity, and to help fill the coffers of the label to ensure they still had a recording contract into the future. That album came, with the idea to produce a live album that captured the band in their best state – on stage, loud and proud, an album that fully immersed the listener as to what it was like to attend a Kiss concert. That album, “Alive!” was released in September 1975, and became an instant hit and sold in the millions. For those that are interested in the story of that album, you can find it on Episode 120 of this podcast. The band then returned to the road to support the success, but in the process were already considering what was going to happen for their next release. They had resigned with Casablanca Records, in the main due to the fact that the label had supported them through the first part of their career, but it was only a two album deal, which meant the pressure was still on the band to follow up this initial success.
One of the main changes and biggest influences of how the band moved forward from this point was the appointment of Bob Ezrin as Producer for the new album. Ezrin was best known at this point in time for his skill in helping to turn around the Alice Cooper Band and bring a focus to their music and musicianship that had seen them become worldwide stars, and was now doing the same for the former Vincent Furnier in his solo gig under the Alice Cooper name. And he brought the same focus and work ethic to this album as well. In a similar way as he has done with the Alice Cooper Band, he brought a professionalism with him, and insisted that the band members work to get the best out of themselves and the best performances they could offer. He provided them lessons in music theory, as none of the band had ever been trained on their instruments. He insisted on discipline, using a whistle to pull the band back to work if they were drifting off. He ruled with an iron fist, pulling individuals into line if they weren’t going in the direction he wanted. He introduced sound effects, kids and people talking as intros to songs, strings and orchestral pieces, and even a boys choir, along with keys and piano that he played himself. All of this was new, and not always accepted with grace. Once the album had been released, and begun its own trajectory into the charts, Paul Stanley compared the experience to a musical boot camp, but that the group came out of the album better, while Gene Simmons was quoted as saying “It was exactly what we needed at the time”.
The result of all of this was an album that combined a number of different styles of music, drew out the best of all four members, and provided a platform for all that was to follow. And that album became “Destroyer”.

“Destroyer” is an album that is packed full of hits, or at the very least of so many songs that have resonated with fans over the years, been played live thousands of times, been played and sung at parties and get togethers around the world over the years. It also has songs that could stand to be discussed in a different environment, if one were to take a pointed less enthusiastic description of the album itself. In that regard, “Destroyer” is no different from any other Kiss album. In the main, there are songs that have become legendary over time, and there are others that can be escribed as weaker and less worthy of having been chosen to be recorded for an album. The point of view of the fan and casual listener will almost always tend to reside at opposite end of the spectrum.
“Detriot Rock City” quickly became a staple of live shows, and it is easy to see why. The single release and version that often appears on greatest hits compilations all cut out the opening preamble to the track, but I far prefer it in its original form as it appears on this album, with the story leading up to the start of the song being a part of it, the roar of the engine, the singing of the song in the kitchen and the car. I still love all of that to today. Taking it away leaves the song to lose some of its lustre. Beyond that, it is still a classic. The chorused chant, the wonderful bass line from Gene, the crisp drumming from Peter, and Paul’s bright, exciting vocal delivery. It remains one of the band’s most recognisable songs, and a terrific opening song in the live environment as well. Then, as with the start of the track, we have the story’s closing finale with the crashing of truck into car as prophesised within the lyrics of the track, something also lef of the single version. Such a waste. Bob Ezrin’s influence in this song with co-composer Paul Stanley is obvious from the outset. Even better, it immediately segues into the brilliant “King of the Night Time World”. The song was originally written by Kim Fowley and Mark Anthony for their band the Hollywood Stars, and Ezrin asked for permission to utilise it for Kiss. The lyrics were altered slightly to fit with the image of the band and used here. A great rolling drum beat from Peter introduces the song, with Paul again on vocals, pronouncing his (and the band’s) perceived role as the said King of the night time world. Criss’s drumming is the excellence of the track, maintaining the perpetuality of the song throughout, driving the momentum and helping to create the fabulous follow up song the album needed after the high energy opening.
“God of Thunder” is one of the band’s most iconic songs and one of Gene’s finest moments – and yet, it could have been oh so different. Paul Stanley wrote the track initially, where it was initially of a faster tempo and one that he had every intention of singing. It wasn’t until Bob Ezrin listened to the song, and suggested two things – that they slow the tempo down to emphasise the natural heaviness of the song, and also allow Gene to sing the lead vocal on the track, thus also making it a naturally heavier song. And with that, Gene produces one of his best performances, Kiss produce one of their best songs, and a Paul and Gene combination occurs that no one would have ever considered. The originally conceived version of the track could well also have been terrific (the demo version exists on a couple of later compilations), but it feels as though the right decision was made. Another tick for producer Ezrin on this point, who also introduced overdubbed audience chatter and explosions and screaming children onto the track to help create the special piece it became.
“Great Expectations”, which closes out the first side of the album, is one of those tracks that can be compared to a WTF moment on this album. Gene offers us a track here that is best explained by his love of Disney styled music, which came to light especially when he covered “When You Wish Upon a Star” on his 1978 solo album. This is a very conceptual piece, utilising some orchestration along with the Brooklyn Boys Choir to provide the supporting vocals. What still strikes me about this song all of these years later is that is has a very Alice Cooper vibe to it, it is the kind of backing and performance that Ezrin and Alice Cooper had produced in recent years at that time. So there seems little doubt that Bob Ezrin had a reasonable amount to do with th direction of the song.
“Flaming Youth” opens up the second side, a rare composition between Paul, Gene and Ace, only with Ezrin. With Paul on vocals, it is a song that offers up the difference in change between the previous album and this one. It contains similarities to the way songs were produced and played on “Dressed to Kill”, but here it seems tighter, more in sync with where the band is headed. It is an average song, it isn’t one that anyone is going to rave about. But musically it comes together with more purpose. The rhythm fits together nicely, Ace offers us a solidly performed solo, while Paul matches underneath, and certain licks come from guest Dick Wagner, another Alice Cooper ring in. Unlike the flaming youth of the song, this doesn’t set the world on fire, but it is an enjoyable romp that keeps the mood of the album ticking along. “Sweet Pain” follows, a reasonably typical Gene ditty based around the solid rhythm led by himself and Peter. The point of contention on the album (the original release at least) is that the guitar solo on the song is again provided by Dick Wagner rather than Ace. Ace did provide a solo for the track, one that was reinserted when they released the “Resurrected” version of this album in 2012, but for whatever reason Ezrin originally used Wagner’s version.
The back half of the second side goes with what have become the heavy hitters, though context is always required when discussing it with other fans of the band. The first is the Paul and Gene combination of “Shout it Out Loud”, which has become an institution and an anthem in the years since the album was released. It isn’t especially fast in regards to tempo, but it comes across that way in the way that Paul and Gene sing the lead vocals. And it works best because they both share the duties here again, for whatever reason this song needs both of their voices on it to make it as great as it is. It is the perfect Kiss track because it is anthemic with easy to remember and sing lyrics, it brings together everyone whether it be at a gig or in the lounge room or on the deck, combined in their belief of the lyrics. It needs to be played loud in the car or on the stereo. It is another of the perfect Kiss party tracks, and its longevity is due to this.
OK. We’ve arrived at “Beth”. The song that has been played at every single gig for the entirety of the 50 years since this album was released, sung by the drummer – whichever one was in attendance at the time – and beloved the world over. Should I just leave it at that? This is Peter Criss’s contribution to the album, and through Ezrin’s influence utilises the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in the recording and Ezrin’s piano. In the main, the Kiss Army female brigade adore this track. There was no way to avoid it when seeing the band live except to duck out for a toilet break. Let’s be honest – no I don’t adore it. I tolerate it, because it is part of Kiss lore, entrenched into the Kiss mantra. There are a few of these scattered through the Kiss history that are forced to be tolerated. Ezrin may also have brought a bit more Alice Cooper to the album with this track, though without the Alice angst (think “Only Women Bleed”). This is designed for nice guy Peter to have his moment, and thus he does, thanks to Beth.
The album concludes with another Kiss staple, “Do You Love Me?”, another Paul written track along with the aforementioned Kim Fowley, with Paul outlining his and his girl’s opposing loves before asking the question that he desperately wants to know the answer for. It’s a standard, sort of paint-by-numbers track overall – except for the bridge, which again has an Alice Cooper vibe about the music backing as Paul’s vocals go up an octave during it. It is just for four lines, but it still gets me every time.
I know I’ve probably over emphasised the Bob Ezrin and Alice Cooper vibes I get from this album during this description of the tracks, but to me it comes across as obvious. All of the tricks and differentials Ezrin has introduced to the Kiss sound on this album help to make this album step out from the band’s first three in their discography, and the fact that he was successful with this prior to this album with the other band he is instrumental in producing is something I think bears consideration to this album’s success.

 
I mean... surely by now you know my Kiss journey... its beginnings with my cousin living at my grandmothers and plastering his bedroom walls with their posters and playing all their music... to winning the 5th class end of year dance contest to “I Was Made For Loving You”... to having my heavy metal music dealer recording me “Crazy Nights” in my final high school years, an album that I adored and adore to this day. Yes? You all know this? Very good. There will be a test later on.
“Destroyer”, on the other hand, came a little bit later on, as I began my slow but steady accumulation of all of the Kiss studio albums. This one was a no brainer I guess, because my cousin David had owned it, and I knew it by cover and by certain songs that stuck in the memory.
I know I loved this pretty much from the first moment I got it. The opening side of the album is impossible to ignore. The second side has enough greatness to retain your interest right through to the end. I still live by the philosophy that if you love an album, you love it all, as all pieces of the songs make the album its whole. There is no dissing a track just because it may not live up to all of your expectations. Love the album, love it all. And I did. When I first got this album I absolutely loved it all. I played it over and over. There was no question as to how much I loved it. That is the great thing when you discover an album that does this to you, that makes you love it without any qualms. I probably have hundreds of albums like that. It is what makes the music I love so important to me.
I still bring this out often to revisit. It is one of my go to albums, certainly if I am thinking about listening to Kiss. So listening to the album over this last week again has been just as fabulous as it always is. And yes, I have taken the time to consider this review carefully, making any subtle judgements on each individual song and hopefully reporting it to you faithfully. As this episode will no doubt show, there are some tracks here that perhaps have some flaws that I am fully aware of, that may not live up to the high expectations of the album as I see it. I am aware of them, don’t get me wrong. But there is a difference to producing a playlist just with songs you want to hear, and listening to an album from start to finish. I use and appreciate playlists in my listening, but what I love most is sitting in the Metal Cavern, and taking a vinyl or CD album, placing it on my stereo, and listening to it from start to finish as the artist intended it should be, and enjoying the ride throughout. Perhaps there ARE songs here I enjoy less than others, but when I listen to “Destroyer”, I listen to it as its own entity, not a collection of songs. “Destroyer” is an ALBUM, and as an ALBUM, it is one of the best of all time. A classic. A ripper. A beauty. Nothing for me can ever change that.

226. Demons & Wizards / Demons & Wizards. 1999. 3.5/5.

This is the side project of Blind Guardian lead singer Hansi Kürsch and Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer, and a bloody impressive effort it is too. Is it a crime to say that I like it more than I like Blind Guardian? Possibly. But I do believe it is true.

This is definitive power metal, and for a side project is very well done. The album flows nicely, each song complementing the next Those that are familiar with the two 'parent' bands work will know what to expect here, a nice blending of their styles. The generally fast pace of the songs is also well complemented by the quiet acoustic passages.

My favourites from the album include Heaven's Denied, Poor Man's Crusade, Blood On My Hands and Tear Down The Wall.

Rating : You will have to be a fan of the genre to enjoy this – it is not for all tastes that is for sure. 3.5/5.

225. Testament / Demonic. 1997. 3/5.

The boys went pretty hard on this release, looking to emulate what they had produced beforehand, and also looking for new horizons in front of them.

Does it really work though? I mean, I like the album, don't get me wrong, and there is some good stuff on here. But I wonder whether they really thought through the writing process. Most of the songs on here exhibit the same characteristics, and while that isn't always a bad thing, with Testament's sound, it can get a little repetitive.

Aside from that, Demonic is another solid album. Best for me include The Burning Times, Together As One, Hatreds Rise and Murky Waters.

Rating : More preaching from the Testament. 3/5.

224. Judas Priest / Demolition. 2001. 2.5/5.

What surprises me most about this album is that what appeared to be glaring mistakes that were made by the band on their previous album Jugulator, in that the band moved away from their roots and fan base and having employed a singer who could do justice to their old material then completely wasted that talent in the songs that were written, were not rectified on this release. The arguments for and against what was written and recorded for the Demolitionalbum can become quite heated if you can find enough fans of what was done here to argue against those that felt Judas Priest was a different band than this. There aren’t many out there. And before you come at me suggesting I am missing the point of the album, just hear me out, because Priest had a real opportunity here to make themselves a viable proposition into the new millennium with their adopted lead singer, and I think they missed a trick through pride and perhaps jealousy.

Halford’s Resurrection hit the shelves the previous year from this being released while Priest were on a World Tour with Ripper on vocals, and it was almost like the Priest album that should have followed Painkiller, It was fast, it was furious, it was powerful, it had heavy guitars, fast drums, and Halford’s trademark screaming vocals. It was exciting, it was heart-thumping, it was Judas Priest metal. Like he had done for Bruce Dickinson before, Roy Z had taken an icon and brought him back from the edge. By now Dickinson had returned to his band Iron Maiden, and many now started hoping for the same reunion for Halford and Priest.
On the back of this, Judas Priest could have easily come up with a back-to-the-roots album, revived the halcyon days of the band, allowed Ripper full range in his vocals to exploit what he could do, and they could have challenged the perception that without Halford they were nothing. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that. Whether it was simply because the writers were happy with the material they were writing, or whether they decided that they needed to remain on the track they were on so as not to be compared to what Halford had released, or whether out of stubborn pride or jealousy they insisted on sticking to their guns and staying in the industrial metal like atmosphere they had created rather than admit that perhaps what they needed to do was move back in the direction their former vocalist had taken – I don’t know. All I know is at the time that this was released I thought they had missed a trick. It didn’t stop me from listening to the album dozens of time in an effort to glean as much from it as I could, but nagging at the back of my mind was the memory of Halford’s scream to start his album, and the opening riff, and how that had grabbed me from the outset, while this didn’t have any of that.
“Machine Man” opens up the album well enough and with enough pace to drag in the faithful for a hopeful renaissance. “One on One” holds the interest because Ripper is able to give it enough attitude and pump to make what is a fairly standard sounding track a bit of bite in the vocals, even given the sometimes dire lyrics. “Devil Digger” is one of the better songs here, while “Bloodsuckers” is the one song that feels as though it has the spirit of the band at its heart. This is the one song where all parts of Ripper’s range are utilised and it is all the better for it. Just three or four more songs like this would have made all the difference in the long run. “Feed on Me”, “Subterfuge” and “Cyberface” all have their moments as well.
On the other hand there are songs such as “Hell is Home” which is a death march, slow sombre and downright dull musically and lyrically. “Close to You” is an abomination, an attempt at a power ballad of sorts but it really misses the mark badly. The rest is not terribly bad but it is also not terribly good either. It doesn’t grab you or excite you.
Still despite all that is said, it is not a completely bad album. I can still put it on and like a lot of it, especially those songs that I mentioned. At 70 minutes it is overlong and could really have been improved by being cut back to about 50 minutes and having four songs cut off completely. Perhaps the producer and the band just weren’t harsh enough on the material they had and thought that more equals better. That is not the case in this instance.

This was the conclusion of the short reign of Tim “Ripper” Owens in Judas Priest and while his live performances kept the band relevant, the material from the two albums he was a part of doesn’t really do him or the band justice. There are sparkles here and there in places on Demolition but this just doesn’t sound like Judas Priest musically which is what hurts it most of all.

Rating:  “I am your darkest hour, I am your fall from power”.   2.5/5

223. Fear Factory / Demanufacture. 1995. 3/5.

When Demanufacture was first released, there was a small uprising in the metal community in Sydney, where I was living at the time. Suddenly, in the music stores, in the pubs, in the music media, it was believed that Fear Factory were the biggest thing around, and were certain to be for some time.

Fear Factory were a band that I took a long time to warm to. When this album came out I was in a different area musically, and this didn't excite me. It was a new wave of metal, and at the time I think I was trying to fight that.

Now? Well, as I'm sure I have said before, I can appreciate it for what it is, and enjoy it for that. It's nice to be a bit older and not concerned about the elitism I used to put on what music was 'cool' and what was 'not'.

My favourites from Demanufacture include Self Bias Resistor, Piss Christ, Flashpoint and Zero Signal. I do NOT know what they were thinking with A Therapy For pain. That just seems painful.

Rating : Middle of the road. 3/5.

222. Black Sabbath / Dehumanizer. 1992. 5/5.

Heading into the new decade of the 1990’s, the various careers of the four members of Black Sabbath that had recorded the “Mob Rules” album a decade earlier were at different cross roads. Ronnie James Dio had fronted his own eponymous band for much of the time since that album, and after initial great success was now finding his stocks waning after the band’s album “Lock up the Wolves”. Geezer Butler had toured with Ozzy Osbourne on the “No Rest for the Wicked” tour. Vinny Appice had been a part of Dio’s band up until the that previous album, and had just come off a gig in Jeff Pilson’s band “Flesh and Blood”. And Tony Iommi had been the final flagbearer of the Black Sabbath name, continuing to release albums such as “The Eternal Idol”, “Headless Cross” and “Tyr”, on which Tony Martin had been vocalist and Cozy Powell had been drumming.
Initially the coming together was for a project not necessarily specified as a Black Sabbath album. Iommi, Butler and Dio came together along with Powell on drums. Tony Martin was doing a solo project at the time, and was aware that Dio had come in, but he was never actually fired from the band in a formal way. Indeed, he was often around the shows that the band played later on, though Dio apparently was unhappy with this. After initial demoing of material, Dio reportedly was also unhappy with Powell’s position in the band, even though they had been bandmates in Rainbow 15 years earlier. Dio had been pushing for his current drummer in his band, Simon Wright to come on board, though this was vetoed by both Iommi and Butler. Eventually, Cozy was sidelined by a hip injury and had to be replaced, at which point Dio again pushed Wright for his replacement. Still not willing to budge, eventually Appice was asked to come on board, and complete that line up that had been together for the “Mob Rules” album, something which provided a nice piece of synergy, if not total harmony within the group. Dio himself had signed only a 12 month limited time contract, no doubt to test the waters and see how well they all got on and how the material worked before committing himself long term, and there is little doubt that was the same for Iommi and Butler as well.
In interviews in the years following the album, Iommi and Butler in particular were quoted as saying that while the writing of the album went well, the tension between members was apparently quite difficult in the studio. The tensions over the way the band split in the first place ten years previously were said to be gone, but now at an older age and with the three main members of the group used to getting things their way when it came to writing and recording, it made for a tough time when they had to make decisions as a group together. And when that happens it can influence the album either adversely or to its betterment. That result is up to the individual to decide.

One of the most amazing things about “Dehumanizer” and the time it was recorded is that it is arguably one of the heaviest albums that any format of Black Sabbath the band every released. As everyone knows of the period in and around this album’s release, grunge was at its high point and many bands were beginning to change their music in order to try and fit that change. That was certainly not the case here with Black Sabbath, who came out with some of the heaviest songs of their career. It is fair to say that the tempo of the songs dialled back just slightly, in line with the way that Dio had been dragging back his music on his last album, and would do so further throughout the 1990’s decade. Tony and Geezer team up again to produce their amazingly unique combination that is the true sound of Black Sabbath, and Vinny’s ability to play what may appear simplistic drums but in fact perfectly suits the guitars that are written for it completes the wonderful combination that they are. Added to this, Ronnie’s vocals on this album are as aggressive as they had ever been without losing their ability to soar, but especially in songs such as “Computer God”, “TV Crimes”, “I” and “Buried Alive” he finds a new level for his vocals that he has never really done before this, and all pieced together it is quite a remarkable album for the world of music as it was.
The topics for discussion with the lyrics of the songs is also interesting and diverse. “TV Crimes” talks about the TV evangelists that are prevalent throughout the US in the same way that Ozzy Osbourne had done with “Miracle Man” a couple of years earlier. The song “Time Machine” had appeared in the hit movie “Wayne’s World” prior to this album’s release. “After All (the Dead)” deals with the possible existence or not of an afterlife, while songs such as “Buried Alive” and “Master of Insanity” and “Sind of the Father” and “Letters From Earth” all tend to deal with different points of religion and mental state.
“I” is an anthem, a shouting at the world, an individualistic anthem to shake the fist at everything around you. And then you have the opening track “Computer God”, which, if you read the lyrics and take them in a certain point of view, pretty much deals with the storyline of the movie The Matrix – except that this was written and recorded in 1992, and The Matrix did not come into being until 1999. Don’t believe me? Listen to the song, listen to the lyrics, and think about their meaning, and tell me they don’t correspond to the plot of that movie. Of course, they could correspond to ANY post-apocalyptic computer-driven hell... but you have to admit... there’s a bit to this conspiracy theory, that was discussed on message boards all over the world in the early 2000’s.

It was announced in late 1991 that this incarnation of Black Sabbath was getting back together, and I was excited from the outset. “Heaven and Hell” and “Mob Rules” had always been two of my favourite albums, and having these guys come back together seemed like a no brainer, especially after the lacklustre efforts of their projects in the previous couple of years. Then I heard the 10 seconds maximum of “Time Machine” when I went to see “Wayne’s World”, and I wanted more.
I got this album in the first week of its release, and just loved it from the start. That amazing heavy guitar and bass to start off “Computer God” was the hook from the very beginning, and every song played its part in the puzzle. Dio’s vocals were supreme, and like I mentioned earlier were on a different level from what he had performed before. This album, along with a few others of around this time, were played on rotation for months, and this one lasted longer than normal. And having heard it for so long, and hoping for a tour of Australia might follow it so I could finally see this foursome live and up close, I then began to imagine a future where this band continued to release brilliant albums for years to come.
Of course, that was not to be. Tension remained, and heightened at the point that Iommi agreed to have the band open for Ozzy Osbourne on the final two nights of his “No More Tours” trek, which at the time was going to be the end of his touring days (that didn’t happen). Dio felt that it was demeaning for Black Sabbath to open for their original vocalist, and as his contract ended two days before those dates, he decided not to re-sign, and instead left the band. Rob Halford filled in on vocals for those two dates, Tony and Geezer joined Ozzy and Bill Ward for an extended encore on the final night to signal the first reformation of the original foursome since Live Aid in 1985, Ronnie and Vinny went off to do the next Dio album, and Tony Martin and Bobby Rondinelli returned to do the next Sabbath album.

The question I have always wondered about the answer to is this: given that both Sabbath and Dio went down a more industrial metal route over their next two albums, what may have occurred if this Sabbath line-up had stayed together and done a follow up to “Dehumanizer”? Because if they had stayed the course and direction that the music was on this album, then a follow up of similar style and greatness could have changed the face of heavy metal through the mid- to late –1990's. Rather than devolving into the sound both those bands went, maybe another “Dehumanizer” would have made the 90’s decade a brighter and less hard core style of metal. And, if that HAD occurred, would it have been a major influence? I’d have loved to have found out.

221. Jerry Cantrell / Degradation Trip. 2002. 3/5.

This is Jerry's second solo album, released following the tragic death of Layne Staley effectively halted any plans for further Alice In Chains releases.

Jerry follows up his first release, Boggy Depot, with an album that is filled with songs with a bit more edge to them. One difference I noticed immediately with this was that Jerry doubles up on the vocals in most songs – to compensate for Layne's absence? I know that on Boggy Depot, this was what I missed most. Here, Jerry does a good job of utilising the harmony vocals that he and Layne shared so successfully by double-tracking them on himself.

OK, it doesn't grab me like the first two Alice In Chains albums did. That was a different era, and I guess I have moved on from that as well. But it is a good album, and Jerry is a great songwriter.

Favourites for me include Psychotic Break, Anger Rising, Angel Eyes and Hellbound.

Rating : Another solid release from Jerry. But has the Seattle sound finally left the building? 3/5.

220. Judas Priest / Defenders Of The Faith. 1984. 5/5.

Through the rise and fall of the Judas Priest musical catalogue by the time we had reached the mid-1980’s, one of the things that stuck out by the band was that they had a great ability to write memorable songs. Whether they were extended epics like “Beyond the Realms of Death”, fast and blistering songs such as “Exciter”, short and sharp singles like “The Ripper”, simple chant-inducing songs such as “Breaking the Law” or great cover versions like “Diamonds and Rust”, Priest had a knack of putting out albums with three or four memorable songs. Eventually you had to expect that they would put it all together and release an album that was all killer and no filler, one that showed off all parts of their amazing techniques. And while it is arguable that a couple of album prior to this album fulfilled this criteria, it is perhaps true that “Defenders of the Faith” was the first time they were able to do this.
Not everyone agrees with this assessment of course. Many prefer the excellence of “Screaming for Vengeance” for instance, the episode of which you can find in Season 3 of this podcast, and suggest that this album is just a continuation in the same direction that the previous album started. Others believe the pinnacle was the albums of the 1970’s. There is an argument that their best was yet to come, something with which I agree. And perhaps the most accurate assessment is that both this album and the predecessor can be seen to have been cast from the same mould. What does work for both albums is that all of the pieces fit together, and the album flows from one song to the next effortlessly and seamlessly. While there are the great songs that become the highlights of the album, the peaks are not so defined that they can be picked out easily.

The album opens with the brilliantly amazing “Freewheel Burning”, which has been one of my favourites since it was released. I spent an endless amount of time in those years in the mid-1980’s watching, dissecting and head banging along to the music video that was released for this song, fascinated by the studded armbands and belts, of Rob Halford’s amazing vocal range and of the dual guitars of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton blazing away. It was a teenagers dream, and the speed and ferocity of the track has never left me. The heavy start to the album continues into “Jawbreaker” which continues to dial in the guitars and Halford’s vocals hitting the high places again. Don’t for a second think that it is a coincidence that the energy of this album is defined by the way Rob brings in all the starring qualities of his voice. He drives these first two songs vocally, and as wonderful as the band is behind him he literally drags you into this album with his vocals. The slightly reduced tempo of “Rock Hard, Ride Free” does not bring this song down in any way. Utilising a typical hard rock tempo and rhythm this is a great follow up to the opening two tracks with a great chanting chorus that invites you to join in.
As brilliant and fantastic as I still believe “Freewheel Burning” to be, my absolute favourite song from the album is “The Sentinel” which is a hallmark of the greatest Judas Priest songs. It has everything that makes this band great. The speed and energy of the track is emphasised by the great rhythm section of Dave Holland’s drums and Ian Hill’s bassline running along in charging fashion. Paste onto this the undercurrent guitar riff and then solo pieces of Downing and Tipton who squeak and squeal in perfect transition, while Halford then pulverises the lyrics in perfect symphony, emoting every nuance from every word. It is a cacophony of excellence and still gives me shivers down my spine every time I hear it. A gem. It closes out one of the finest first halves of any album, ever.
While some believe the second half of the album lets down the first, I choose to consider that it is an almost impossible task to follow it, and as such the songs complement rather than detract from it. “Love Bites” is a slower tempo than what has come before it but still has some surprises to keep the listener interested. This is followed by “Eat Me Alive”, whose greatest claim to fame is that it became one of the songs that landed on the P.M.R.C’s “Filthy 15” song list that they believed should be banned for various reasons to do with sexual innuendo or violence. While the lyrics mightn’t be exceptional the songs itself is still entertaining. Following on from this is another Bob Halligan Jr. song, “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll”. This is a better song that the one Priest recorded for their previous album, and has a much more anthemic feel to it. “Night Comes Down” reverts to a much slower and moodier pace, allowing Rob to again dominate the track with his amazing vocals. The album concludes with the AC/DC like “Heavy Duty” which segues nicely into the title track of “Defenders of the Faith” to complete a terrific album.
While the band has always sounded great, they have everything in order on this album. The guitars riffing and switching between solo licks from guitarist to guitarist is as impressive here as it had been to that point, and as mentioned earlier Halford’s vocals are in peak form, moving between pitches with ease.

Judas Priest came to me via the afore mentioned video for “Freewheel Burning” in particular on the late night video program Rage, along with “Breaking the Law”. That was enough to whet my appetite, and get me to start looking for more Judas Priest to enjoy. That beginning was the “Unleashed in the East” live album, the “British Steel” album – and then this classic. So it is one that I have had for a very long time. Not the 40 years that it has been in existence, but not far off.
This is one of those albums that I can pick up anytime, put on, and enjoy every moment. It is one of those albums that, if I am in a particularly rotten mood, or have had a bad day for any reason, I can put this on, and by the end of the album all of that has disappeared. It is a good mood creator. It’s a feel good album. Rob’s vocals, KK and Glenn’s guitars, it all fits together beautifully. It is just incredibly hard to sing along with because of Halford’s amazing vocal chords, but terrible or not I still do it to every song. This was the age where the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was beginning to morph into something different, and Judas Priest would begin to look at themselves. But if ever the band was going to play an entire album live, surely this one would be up there.
I have spent the last few weeks with this back in my rotation, but to be honest it is never very long sitting on my shelves before it gets another listen. And every time it has lifted my mood immensely, from the opening guitar riff to the closing fade out. 1984 is one of those insane years for album releases, but this would still be one of the first I would name as my favourites of that year. This era of the band is perfectly represented on this album. The band had some albums where they pushed the envelope in regards to the sound they wanted, but when they just got into it, and wrote a heavy metal album, you got results like this.
“Defenders of the Faith” remains one of my favourite Judas Priest albums, and one of my favourite albums, period. It not only has the star attractions such as “Freewheel Burning” and “The Sentinel”, but the remaining tracks aren’t just filling up the cracks, they are players in themselves. Though one Judas Priest album tops them all, this is very close to the top of the tree.